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The fact that these explosions aren't damaging the containment actually makes me pretty confident that nothing else will either.

Something has been bothering me: if Japan is so well prepared for earthquakes, how did they have a nuclear reactor right on the coast with no protection from tsunami? Wouldn't a barrier of some sort have prevented this whole mess? Or elevated backup generators?

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They actually have lots of--if not all--reactors along the coastline. It's about having access to water and Japan isn't exactly a land of rivers and lakes.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/13/article-1365569-0B...

They did have protection from tsunamis. This one was too big.

A couple of stories have covered this, their wave estimation was low. That being said, its clear they can improve and had the imported generators been able to connect to the plant's cooling power plugs this would have been moot.

My guess is that positioning backup generators are safe from tsunamis and that can be moved into position quickly, and are pre-tested to be compatible with the backup infrastructure will get added to the licensing regulations.

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